Ballybay Livestock Sales (Ballybay Mart) was back before the High Court today (Tuesday, February 15), where it was heard that “progress remains good” regarding the management of the mart, and in the context of the “supervisory role” taken on by the court.
Counsel for the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA), Hugh McDowell, told president of the High Court, Ms. Justice Mary Irvine that they were satisfied with progress being made at the mart, on the back of conditions previously put in place by the court.
However, he said that it is taking auditors some time to reconstruct the mart’s client accounts and they are not in a position to present accounts for the year 2021 just yet.
The case involving Corcaghan Co-operative Agriculture & Dairy Society Limited, trading as Ballybay Livestock Sales, and the PSRA was adjourned for a further six months.
It will be back for mention in the High Court on July 18, when it is anticipated that the issue will be resolved.
Ballybay Mart was not represented at the short hearing in a bid to reduce its legal costs, the court heard.
In November 2021, the High Court lifted a temporary suspension of the Co. Monaghan mart’s licence.
This suspension had been in place for a period of one week, based on an application made by the PSRA.
In December 2021, counsel for the PSRA told the High Court that the mart’s account deficit had reduced from €243,000 to €103,000 (from November 26 to December 9).
A number of conditions put in place previously by the court, on behalf of the PSRA, were being adhered to, the court heard.
A weekly reporting mechanism had commenced and a firm of accountants in Carrickmacross, called Amatino, had started working through client-account issues with the mart.
And provision of credit to mart customers was suspended at that time.
The mart was also compelled to send a weekly report to the PSRA outlining that all conditions set were being met.